u/Last_Resource9630

Yesterday I posted a true story that happened to me when I was a sales manager for a large financial institution in Canada. Because I used an Ai program to help me, a number of people chose to focus on the Ai version rather than the story. It is unfortunate they missed a heart breaking event in my life and hers.

At the time, she was a 50 year old grandmother who had been in been in financial sales for a number of years and had a very large client base (2,500+ clients). She was working very long days 6-7 days a week, and was exhausted and very concerns she had no time for her grandchildren.

The mistake she made was that she treated all her clients equally and was giving all of them her undivided attention. As her manager and her coach, I saw the problem immediately. After both of us calmed down, yes I was upset as well, for I cared about my team, just as I care about those individuals I coach now.

I believe we should treat all our customers fairly but never equally.

Step 1 - I had her do an extensive process to classify all her customers into three categories; A, B and C.

A "C" client would only buy from her once and not offer referrals to others.

A "B" client could buy again or give her referrals, but not both.

A "A" client could do both, buy from her again and give her referrals.

After 2 weeks of hard work with her assistant, she accomplished the task.

Step 2 - I suggest some guidelines to manage her client base fairly but not equally.

Regarding "C" clients - she is never to call them. If they call her, of course she is to respond.

Regarding "B" clients - she is to call them one per year just before their birthdays to offer an annual review or a prospecting meeting.

Regarding "A" clients - she is to call them twice a year, once for an annual review before their birthday, and one other time to socialize and build a stronger relations ship.

This took another 2-3 months to organize, quiet file some "C" clients, and approach some "A" and "B" clients.

She transformed before my eyes in this period, she worked less hours, her earnings increased by 30% and most importantly she had time for her grand kids. She had joy in her heart and re-committed to the career

So if you have a large client base, assess them and treat them fairly but never equally.

I hope whomever complained about my previous posting being Ai assisted, now get the message above.

There is a principle I live by which is "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care!" I hope I am judged on how much I care, for I do care!

Part 1 - She was 50 years old. A financial advisor with 2,500 clients. Working 12-hour days, often six or seven days a week. She had two grandchildren she barely saw. She wasn't failing. She was doing everything right.

That was the problem.

She was treating all 2,500 clients exactly the same — and it was killing her.

Here's the deal. You can treat people fairly. You cannot treat all 2,500 people equally. There isn't enough of you.

We ran a Gap Analysis together. We looked at where she was, where she wanted to be, and what was standing in the way. Then we got to work.

Two months later, she was usually leaving the office by 4pm. She was at her grandchildren's events. She was taking weekends off.

And her income was up 30%.

Not because she worked harder. Because she stopped spreading herself across everyone equally and started putting her time where it mattered most.

If you have team members who are exhausted and their results aren't improving, the problem might not be effort. It might be where the effort is being placed.

Does that sound familiar?

I'm sure you would agree, that when you apply for a position, in any organization, that organization, after receiving your résumé, will Google you. I've just been through an exhaustive process of analyzing, in-depth my profile on LinkedIn to make sure it matches with the offer I'm making in the marketplace. I encourage anyone who reads this post to review their social media platforms. Make sure your platform sounds like the career you are chasing. Also, depending on the position you are chasing, that you clean up your posts on social media, so they do not find something that could cause you to be de-selected from the interview process.

To better understand the role as a Sales Manager/Leader, consider this!

There are four core systems that the salesperson must master, which are: business management, market development, activity management, and sales process.

For the manager there are six additional core systems which they must master; recruiting, selection, onboarding, coaching, training, and leadership.

The sales manager/leader’s job is to effectively master salesperson's core systems and then learn the leaders core systems. Then be able to transfer the salesperson's core systems to new members of the sales team.

The sales manager is the primary trainer of the company’s systems, processes, and tools.

As a new sales leader you're walking a very difficult path, but if you understand the importance of filling your toolbox with knowledge skills and abilities about these ten systems, you'll be OK.

Of, your primary job is to create an environment where success happens, through your thoughts, words, and your behaviours.

I believe the most difficult problem a new sales manager faces is transitioning from a sales person to a sales manager. The skills required for a manager are quite different than those required by a sales person. As a sales person, you have independence, in that you have control of your time, your effort, and your results, to some degree. The sales manager doesn't have that control. They can influence, motivate, educate, train, and they can coach. But at the end of the day, they only survive and thrive, if their salespersons get results. Giving up control is difficult if you have previously had it. That is why many sales managers micro-mange their team members. Their real job is to create an environment where success happens.